“Wyomey Brown? Is that you?” Whil asked.

She paused for a second or two. She was as if could not believe that she is there with someone she used to know. “Yes. It’s me. You remember me.” Wyomey said with a little smile.

“Of course I do. How could I forget those eyes?” Whil answered without any hesitation and with a hint of a smile. Then he looked to the ground.

“Are you OK?” Wyomey asked.

“Why are you here?” he asked as if he didn’t believe that who he was speaking to was Wyomey. “How come you are here now?”

“Irving City was beautiful. But I missed Joycelm. I missed Gallenhied. I always wanted to get myself transferred here in a long time. I finally got it. Then…I heard about your…… So I decided to drop by the funeral. And then I saw you. So I followed you here. Are you OK, Whil?” Wyomey asked again after explaining her situation. She looked quite concerned. The worry in her eyes was quite obvious.

“I’m just fine. As fine as always.” He answered just briefly. No explanation. No elaboration. He didn’t even let his true feelings out. He would have been crying at the moment. Kneeling to the ground, looking to the sky and screaming. But he didn’t. Something else was in his mind other than his grandfather’s passing.

“Are you sure?” the worried girl asked.

“Yeah. I'm really fine. Are you fine?” Whil said without even looking at her.

“I am. Whil? Let me walk you home. It’s getting dark. We should head back.”

Whil just nodded and led her back to the city. They walked but they didn’t talk to each other. Wyomey just followed and Whil just marched on, not stopping. Then, he reached his house. Before he got to the door, he turned around towards Wyomey.

“So, this is your house?” asked Wyomey immediately.

“Yeah. Thanks for walking me home.”

“No problem. Get better soon. If you need me, I live close by. Just a couple of blocks away across the street. The house with the pink flowery fence.” Said the girl smiling to Whil.

“Out of six towns in Joycelm, you moved to Drees. Where I happen to live. What are the odds?” said Whil disbelieving that she is actually real. He thought he was too depressed that he was starting to see things that were not there. “Bye.”

“Ok…bye.” Wyomey said; a bit confused by how Whil was talking and treating her.

Whil opened the door, entered, closed the door and locked it straight away without having a final look at Wyomey. Wyomey stood there feeling sympathetic for his situation. She couldn’t feel anything else but sympathy for the little boy from Ygmod.

Whil went upstairs without even bothering to check whether his grandmother was home. His steps was heavy. He felt harder and harder to walk. Then, he started to drag his feet. He reached his room and threw himself on his bed. He didn’t do anything else that evening but lying there feeling sorry for himself. It was only about 7:12 p.m. at the time. He twisted and turned on the bed. He did it again and again and again until he fell asleep that very evening.

----- ----- ----- -----

A couple of hours later Whil woke up. He looked around and everything was really dark. Left to right was pitch black. From his bed to the door. Even the gaps of the door had no lights coming through. He looked out the balcony and the stars were up. He got off his bed and walked out of his room. The whole corridor was dark. In fact, the whole house was dark. No one turned on the lights. He then took the liberty to turn on the lights himself. The corridor, the staircase, and the ones outside the house. It was a very quiet night. Dark and quiet. He went to his grandmother’s room. The door was not closed so he peeked through. There he saw his grandmother lying asleep on his grandfather’s side of the bed. Whil went in and tucked her in properly. He kissed her forehead and exit while closing the door behind him.

His stomach grumbled so very loudly. ‘Argh. I'm so hungry,’ he thought to himself. He went to the kitchen to make something up for himself. As he turned on the kitchen light, his heart skipped a beat. It took him by surprise to see a cooked meal for him on the table. It’s not that it was out of place that his grandmother would cook dinner, but rather he expected that she would not be cooking on that very day since after what happened. Whil thus grabbed a chair and started gobbling the food. ‘So good’ he said to himself.

After he ate everything, he washed all the dishes in the sink and went back upstairs. He threw himself on his bed again. He lied down with his chest and face on the bed. He was as lazy as he would normally be every night. Lazy to the extent of not wanting to turn and lie on his back normally. He kept on thinking about his grandfather since just now. Since he was eating in the kitchen. Since he was turning on the lights and tucking his grandmother in. He thought and thought. But, with every memory there was no tears. He was already tired of crying. All he could do was sigh loudly letting the depression out.

The more he reminisce the more insecure he felt. There was something else that was bothering him. Something other than his grandfather. Again he felt the weird sensation inside of him. The sensation he felt that evening. Then he realised, ‘Wyomey Brown’. He was talking and walking with Wyomey Brown that evening. She talked to him with that very distinctive voice of hers. She talked to him and it felt real. ‘Was it real?’ he thought. That was what he was worried about more at the moment. Nothing else.

Curiosity was so mind boggling that he couldn’t stay lying on the bed. He had to move. His legs started swinging left to right. His hands tapping the bed. Tap, tap, tap, tap; they went. He then suddenly jumped off his bed. He started to pace around his room from the study table to the door. From the door back to the bed. Lastly, from the bed to the balcony. He looked around. Drees, the Town of Drees. Right beside Irveen Town. Underneath Fender Town. Above Som Town. He remembered that Wyomey said she’s just a couple of houses away across the street. Which threw him more into disbelieving as it was an absolute miracle that she’s in Drees and only a couple of blocks away.

‘Did I really talk to her?’ he asked himself. He didn’t have to answer the question as fate answered for him. There he saw the familiar figure. She was walking around the fountain that was a walking distance away from Whil’s house. He was shocked. Was it a hallucination again? Or has it never been a hallucination? One way to find out. He grabbed a sweater and marched down the stairs quietly. He exit and closed the front door gently. Then, he ran for the fountain. As he nearly reached it, he stopped running and walked swiftly. When he arrived, the place was empty. There was no one there. Maybe it had been a series of hallucinations.

Whil just stood there for a while. Before he could sulk and ran back home, a shiny object on the bench by the fountain captured his attention. He went closer and closer. It was a ring. A diamond ring with gold hugging the beautifully cut diamond. He picked it up and had a closer look at it.

“Oh! You found it!” A voice appeared behind him. A familiar voice. A woman’s voice. He turned around and there she was, standing in her night dress. Looking ever so beautiful with her brunette hair reflecting the moon’s beam. Her eyes glimmered with thousands of stars. Her lips as soft as pinkish flower petals in the summer breeze.

“It was my mom’s.” She added.

Whil turned to the ring on his right hand. “This ring?” he asked.

“Yeah, silly. The ring.” She giggled a little at Whil.

Whil smiled and held the ring towards her. She then held out her left hand. But, her palm was downwards. Whil was a little confused at first. A second later, he figured that she expected him to put it on for her. So, Whil slipped the ring in her finger gently. The ring flew in swiftly against her soft skin until it reached the end of her finger.

“Thanks. I accidentally left it there. I took it off because I was playing with the fishes in the fountain. I didn’t want it to fall into the fountain. So I put it on the bench. Never thought I would be clumsy enough to leave it behind.” Wyomey said explaining herself.

Whil couldn’t have been any quieter than how he was at the moment. He was still processing information in his brain. He touched her. He felt her. ‘She must be real’, he thought.

“Are you really here? In Joycelm? In Drees?” Whil asked.

“I knew there was something wrong when we talked. You thought I was imaginary, huh? I'm really here. I really got myself transferred here in Joycelm. My uncle and aunt moved with me. We bought a house a couple of blocks away from yours. You’re not dreaming. This is real. I'm real. You held my hand. I felt it. You know you felt it as well.” Wyomey tried to convince him.

Whil smiled even wider as he believed that she was really there. She returned. She came back after all these years. Maybe what people said all these years were true? When a door closes, a window opens. One bad thing happens, a good thing comes by to help. There is always a silver lining.

“So, you missed us so much that you’d come back after nearly ten years?” Whil asked with a cute little smirk.

“Yeah. I did. I lived nine years in Irving City. Every single day I live missing Joycelm. I couldn’t find any friend that would make me forget. My uncle insisted me on trying to change. At one point even I tried to forget. But, I just can’t. The thought of you…and Alph kept on coming back to me. I figured, the only way to end the mental war was to move. Reconnect. I told my uncle…begged really. And he agreed. So, here I am now. Reconnecting. Speaking of which, where’s Alph now?”

“Alph? He’s still here. We always hang out. Come on. Let’s get him.” Whil pulled Wyomey. She willingly went along.

They walked downhill from the fountain. They walked along Stiltson Street where Alph’s house was. His house was the one with the most beautiful garden. Polly has a green thumb and she always trim and water her garden. At times, she would add new flowers to her family of buds. Whil gave three knocks on the door. A few moments later, Polly answered it.

“Oh, Whil. How are you doing?” she asked him.

“I'm fine actually. Recovering quite quickly.” He answered with a smile. A very honest smile.

“Well, that’s good. That’s very good. Would you like to come in for a while?” she invited him. “Oh! Who is this young lady?” she took notice of Wyomey.

“It’s Wyomey, Miss Canner.” Whil answered for the girl.

“Oh my. Wyomey. It’s been so long.” Polly left her post and went to Wyomey giving her a huge hug. Then, she pulled Whil in. Such a big hug. “So good to see you again. Wait here. I’ll call Alph.” Polly went inside leaving the door opened wide. Then, came Alph to the front door.

“Whil?” he said in surprise.

“Don’t be surprised seeing me. Look to my right.” Whil being ever so sarcastic.

“Wyomey? Is it really?” Alph was even more shocked.

“See Wyo, I'm not the only one who didn’t believe you were real.” Whil said with a smile.

Alph was still speechless from seeing Wyomey. Alph looked at Wyomey and both Whil and Wyomey looked at Alph. Whil snapped his finger at Alph’s face snapping him from whatever he was dwelling on.

“Hey! Come on. We’ve got to get Sheila too.” Said Whil.

“Wait. ‘Get’ Sheila? Are we going somewhere?” Alph was curious.

Then, Whil simply answered, “You’ll see.”

They made their way to Irveen Town. It took them quite the minutes to get to Eve Street in Irveen. Normally they don’t make their way to Sheila’s place as she would come to them since she has a hover of her own. But they still made their journey there. In Eve Street, there stood a mansion with a couple of beautiful maze gardens, majestic windows and very huge front doors. It was the Haze Mansion. Everyone knew of the Haze Mansion. It was the most beautiful of all the mansions at the street.

Whil gave the same three knocks just like at Alph’s house. Unlike at the Canners, it was the butler that answered the door instead.

“Yes. How may I help you?” asked the very lazy looking butler. His eyes were drowsy. His face was droopy. But, he stood straight with broad shoulders and chest outwards like a soldier saluting his lieutenant.

“Umm…is Sheila awake?” Whil asked while trying to peek inside. He only went into the Haze Mansion once. It was the time when Sheila was having a fever and skipped school three days straight.

“Wait here, sir.” The butler closed the door and left the three kids outside waiting.

A couple of minutes later the door opened once more. It was Sheila Haze.

“Whil? Alph? What are you guys doing? Who’s that?” she asked a bunch of questions.

“This is Wyomey Brown. The third kid from Ygmod.” Answered Whil.

“Oh! Wyomey. These two talked about you plenty of times. It’s nice to finally meet you.” Sheila said while shaking Wyomey’s hand.

“No time for hand shakings. Come on.” Whil interrupted them. After that, he hastily led the way. “Come on guys.”

Wyomey quickly followed and Alph stayed back with Sheila.

“Wait. What are we doing?” Sheila asked to which Alph answered, “Helping a friend cope with his loss.” They left the Haze Manor straight after Sheila locked the door. Before Sheila let go of the door she said to herself, “Please don’t make me do anything crazy.” They made their way towards Fender Town right above Drees and Irveen. In between the three towns was an old abandoned shack. It was a bunch of rotten woods put side by side one another once forming a quaint little cabin. From the outside it looked overgrown with large bushes and branches. Vines grew wild from the windows and roof. Sheila saw it and was scared of it.

“Wait. We’re not going in there right?” she asked hoping that they might be joking.

“Oh my. I remember this place.” Wyomey said suddenly.

“You guys went here before?” Sheila asked shocked by Wyomey’s statement.

“We used to go here nine years ago. It was less grown with weeds back then.” Alph answered her.

“Come on. Come in.” Whil held the door open. One by one they went in. Whil was the first one to enter. Then, Alph followed. After that, Wyomey. Before she entered she turned to Sheila.

“Hey. Come on. Trust me, it’s not so bad inside.” Wyomey held her right hand out. Sheila grabbed it and Wyomey pulled her into the shack. Inside it was so beautiful. It was a beautiful overgrown wild garden. Pink and blue flowers here and there blossoming gorgeously. In the middle of the shack was a bed of grass. Whil was standing there looking at his other three companies. Above him was a huge hole that once was a roof.

“Come on guys. Over here.” Whil called the three companions.

Whil lied on the grass. It was soft like a mattress filled with feathers. One by one followed Whil and lied down on the grass bed. They looked through the hole to the night sky.

“So many stars.” Sheila said.

“Yeah. So pretty. Most beautiful sight ever.” Alph continued.

“Just like old times, huh?” Wyomey asked.

Then, dawned upon Whil a very brilliant plan.

“Hey guys. Let’s do what we once did back then. All the crazy little games that we made up.” He eagerly suggested to Sheila, Wyomey and Alph.

“What? Now?” Alph asked with a slight surprise.

“No.” Whil got up from lying down and stared at them while sitting. “Tomorrow. We’ll start tomorrow.” Whil saw their faces filled with doubts and second thoughts. The only one that seemed interested was Wyomey as she was looking at Whil with a smile. Whil smiled back and looked at the other two that was still looking up to the sky.

“Come on guys. Help me out just for a couple of days. I need to get some things out of my system.” Whil said to them that made Alph and Sheila changed expressions. They looked at each other for a couple of seconds.

“OK. Fine. We’ll do it.” Alph answered for the both of them.

Their night together ended there. They all headed back home as it was already late. It was close to midnight and everyone was tired. Before they left each other’s company they made a final promise to meet up at Alph’s house tomorrow morning.

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